Facebook has entered the search engine field in a large way with the unfurling this week of its Graph Search function, aimed at being its most adventurous pillar yet. Vadim Lavrusik, the journalist recruited by Facebook to help develop its services, has a primer on how reporters will be able to employ the new function in their work.

The Columbian Journalism Review covers a meeting on hyperlocal initiatives and finds that, for the time being at least, success is defined in acquiring an audience and cornering a particular function. The financial rewards are not emerging, yet, although some have experienced advertiser and subscriber support in encouraging ways.

StarAfrica.com has a feature on the impressive impact of technology on journalism in Africa, particularly in the flourishing mobile market. The growth of crowdsourced and citizen-provided content has been significant, as has the rise in standards.